I’m sure we all know what our dream job could be. Astronaut, cowboy or ballet dancer, the world is our oyster. But how would you like to watch TV for a living and earn cash rewards and free gift cards? Well, the truth is, you would be hard to make a living wage out of it. But you can make some money just by watching your TV or certain videos online. Take a look at some of the best ways to get started.
Get paid to watch videos and Tv
I’m a keen fan of finding new (and easy) ways of making money and recently reviewed some of the best passive ways to make an income. You can’t get much easier than earning cash when you’re asleep!
But when finding new passive income ideas, I noticed that many sites claimed you could earn extra cash just from watching TV and online videos. And having been a member of a lot of these sites, I thought I would share which are the ones you should join and which you should steer well clear of.
So, let’s take a look at the sites that claim to pay you in return for turning on your telly.
PressPlay
With this site, you’ll be paid to watch TV, movies and trailers. In exchange for your time, you’ll be rewarded with points, which can then be exchanged for Amazon gift cards.
When you join, you’ll have to complete a quick task and answer quite a few questions to make sure you’re suitable. If you qualify, you’ll be sent invitations throughout the year.
A test will usually involve you watching either a trailer or a full episode/movie with your webcam on so your reactions can be analysed. You’ll also have to complete a questionnaire on your thoughts afterwards.
I usually earn around £7.50-£10 per hour from this. Some months, I can receive a dozen invites, and then others, nothing.
GFK MediaView
If you’ve never heard of them before, GFK is very well known in the market research world and they run several different panels and sites. And one of their most popular is MediaView.
MediaView is interested in what you watch on TV and listen to on the radio. Each day, you’ll be asked to fill out a quick survey about what you’ve seen or heard. It shouldn’t take you much more than a minute or two and for your efforts, you’ll be rewarded with points.
And what do points mean? Well, in this case, they gain you entry into a prize draw. Choose whether to exchange your points for chances to win £5, £10 or £15 e-vouchers – the bigger the voucher, the more points it costs you to enter. You’ll also gain automatic entries just by completing surveys.
There are over 100 vouchers to win each week and if you’re chosen, they can be used in places like Amazon, Argos, Currys PC World, Tesco, Waitrose, Topshop, Topman, Asos, Gap, Harvester, All Bar One, Pizza Express, TK Maxx and many more.
There is even an app that you can download to remind you to complete your surveys. But it’s not really necessary and I would wait for the email reminder to come through.
GFK MediaView is free to join, but you must be willing to provide your address and mobile number so they can confirm your identity.
Use the button below to join and you’ll get 1,000 bonus points to get you started.
Also worth reading
If you want to boost your income with minimal effort, why not take a look at some of these free money offers?
The Viewers
This is a focus panel for any serious TV lover to join. You may be asked to give feedback on the telly you watched the night before, be given a chance to share your thoughts on a new programme or even help to develop a new service.
This can be done through quick surveys lasting a few minutes that pay £1 – £2 or you could be asked to watch a full show for 1 hour and earn yourself £10.
You may also be invited to discussion groups along with selected others. They are held in person and you will be provided with refreshments and £40 cash for your trouble. These are purely voluntary and you don’t have to attend. Take a look at some of the best online focus groups and interviews for similar ways to make money.
The drawback is, space in this panel is limited. You will need to apply by answering some quick questions and then wait to hear back to see if you’re suitable.
Television panel groups through survey sites
Now, if you’ve ever read my blog before, you’ll probably have noticed that I’m a big fan of survey sites. They won’t earn you a fortune, but they’re a great way to make a little extra in your spare time. Plus, they do lead to other earning opportunities. I’ve been lucky enough to join two TV-watching panels through online surveys in the last couple of years:
- Sony Pictures TV Lab
- The Jupiter Panel
They send a mixture of short surveys and longer ones, that require you to watch new movies or part of a TV series and share your opinion. For your time, you’re rewarded with either cash or Amazon vouchers.
I would like to link to these sites directly, but they are invite-only. But complete enough surveys and the opportunity could eventually pop up for you too. Plus, you can earn a bit extra on your way.
Some of the best paying survey sites to join:
Online focus groups
Focus groups work similarly to online surveys, although they will involve you sharing your opinion by video. This may sound a little worrying, but it’s actually very simple and can be a fun way to make money.
Some focus groups require you to give movie reviews or opinions on certain movie trailers. You’ll usually have a 30-minute session to discuss the task and then be given a week to watch the movie.
In the final session, you’ll discuss your thoughts with 5 or 6 people. These sessions usually last between 90 and 120 minutes. But the good news is that you can earn well over £100 from participating.
Why not take a look at the best UK focus groups to help you start earning?
Media Rewards
Media Rewards says this:
Watch TV.
Listen to the radio.
Get rewarded.
Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? All you need to do is to download their app onto the device of your choice and it will run in the background as you watch your favourite shows. It claims the app cannot track voices or conversations and never records audio. It’s also meant to use very little battery power.
You make money by participating in paid surveys and being entered into prize draws.
In all honesty though, expect the app to use around 15% of battery power per day. And although the surveys pay generously (around £5 for 7 minutes), they are few and far between. And I never won a prize.
WeAre8
This app was ‘created to bring good back to social media’. Whether that works or not, I’m not so sure. However, they do pay you for watching short videos and adverts. You’ll be paid around 6 pence for a 15-second video and for answering a couple of very short questions.
After 30 days, the earnings should be in your account and you can withdraw to PayPal. It’s not a big earner but it can be a useful little top-up.
Mediaprobe
This is a slightly different way to get paid for watching TV. If you become a panellist with Mediaprobe, they’ll send you a small device which sits in the palm of your hand.
When there’s a suitable show for you to watch, the device connects to your phone through Bluetooth and measures how you react.
What you can watch depends on your profile, but expect lots of invites to live sporting events and entertainment shows.
You’re paid around £5 per hour and your rewards are given in Amazon vouchers.
Netflix Tagger
A Netflix Tagger’s role is to watch TV shows and movies and add tags by genre and other descriptors to make programmes easier to find for subscribers.
However, becoming a Netflix Tagger is a sought-after job and difficult to find. Keep an eye on the Netflix Jobs website, as they will be listed there, although usually for short periods.
Become a closed captioner
A closed captioner is a person who writes subtitles. This could be for any kind of video content, including social media, short films, video ads, YouTube videos or even television shows. The best thing about work is that it could become a full-time job. However, it takes a lot of practice and you must have good listening and writing skills.
It’s not the most fun way to earn, but it can be a decent earner.
Several sites are looking to employ closed captioners. Why not take a look at my review of Rev below?
Take a look at working with Rev.
Pet sitter or babysitting
Technically, you’re being paid to look after children or pets. Let’s be honest though, it shouldn’t take much effort. So whilst you’re there and as long as it’s all quiet, why not break out your favourite movie or show on Netflix? A simple way to do something you love and earn money.
How much you can earn depends on where you’re located, but you can see how much babysitters can expect to be paid.
Swagbucks
I feel the need to bring this up because so many other sites mention the fact that you can make money by watching videos through Swagbucks.
If you’ve never heard of it before, Swagbucks is what is known as a GPT (Get Paid Too) site. You earn rewards for completing simple tasks such as completing surveys or signing up for free trials. You can cash out through gift cards or cash straight into your PayPal account.
Around five years ago or so, there were plenty of video-earning opportunities available on the Swagbucks website and from apps on your mobile device. Although they wouldn’t earn you a fortune, it was one of the easiest ways to make extra as you could leave them running in the background and earn a few pounds per day.
But changes to Swagbucks have seen most of these opportunities taken away. It is possible to earn a few Swagbucks every 10 minutes or so from their external partners, but you would be pushed to make more than a couple of pounds each week, even if you ran them continuously.
It’s not a bad site for earning extra, but not through watching videos.
InboxPounds
This is another GPT site and works in a very similar way to Swagbucks. And like Swagbucks, you really won’t earn much if you use InboxPounds just to watch videos.
The surveys are pretty poorly paid too, although you can make some decent earnings through some of the special offers listed on the InboxPounds website.
Eureka
Although this is primarily a survey site (which is a decent earner), Eureka also pays you for playing games and watching videos. But the videos only pay 1 pence for around 30 seconds, so should only be seen as something to do if you’re really bored.
PrizeRebel
This is my 4th and final GPT site that pays you to watch videos. Again, I would like to bring you some positive news and tell you that you could earn a decent income. But, just like the other sites directly above, the returns are fairly poor.
PrizeRebel is more geared towards people who want to make money from surveys and from their referral program. Still, if you make enough money, you can claim an Amazon gift card or PayPal cash.
Which is the best way to earn money from watching TV and videos?
As you can see, if you’re looking for free money from watching TV, the pickings are pretty slim. Sorry if you fancy becoming a professional TV watcher.
First of all, ignore the GPT sites if you want to earn money from watching videos. The amount of time you have to put in isn’t worth it.
GFK MediaView isn’t a bad little earner. You won’t make a fortune, but it doesn’t require much in the way of effort. The Viewers is a site worth joining too. But remember that they can be picky with who they allow to join, so it’s not guaranteed.
If you’re serious about making extra money and want something to do alongside your day job, why not take a look at my post on the best side hustles in the UK?